Garage door opener fix?

When I bought my place a few years back, the double-size garage door (metal) had a big dent in it - this was fixed by placing metal bars across the dent. But, in the cold weather the darn thing keeps getting stuck as it goes up. I suspect this is due to uneven settling of the garage? The door seems to be a bit off-kilter, and rolls up unevenly towards the bottom of the track.

WD-40 on the tracks and chains and rollers helps, but in cold weather, the door goes up only a few inches at a time - by pressing the button to make it go "up" then "down" several times, I can get it up the track all the way.

I can't afford a new door just yet. Can I fix this problem? Or just have to live with it until I can get a new one?

When I bought my place a few years back, the double-size garage door (metal) had a big dent in it - this was fixed by placing metal bars across the dent. But, in the cold weather the darn thing keeps getting stuck as it goes up. I suspect this is due to uneven settling of the garage? The door seems to be a bit off-kilter, and rolls up unevenly towards the bottom of the track.

WD-40 on the tracks and chains and rollers helps, but in cold weather, the door goes up only a few inches at a time - by pressing the button to make it go "up" then "down" several times, I can get it up the track all the way.

I can't afford a new door just yet. Can I fix this problem? Or just have to live with it until I can get a new one?

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I don't have a garage, much less an automated door opener, but here are some thoughts:

1. it sounds like whatever made the dent might have moved the tracks/rails a little. If the dent happened toward the top or bottom of the door, that would cause the actual width of the door to decrease a little.

2. the fact that it is happening in cold weather suggests that the expansion and contraction of the metal in the door or tracks is causing the sticking.

If the denting action reduced the tolerances in your track spacing just a bit, it might be enough so that cold weather contraction causes it to bind.

I would start by taking precise measurements of the door from side to side at the top, bottom, and several mid-points. I would also measure the distance between the rails at various points to see if they are running parallel or not. That should tell you what adjustments you need to make to fix it.

Physically disconnect the opener from the door so that you can operate the door manually. Then, first check to see if the door is balanced well by the springs by raising the door about 18", then waist high, then head high. At all points, when you release your grasp the door should remain at that height, neither rising nor falling, or at the least very little if any. If this test fails, you'll need to adjust the springs to get the door balanced. If the door utilizes two seperate springs, it is critical that both be adjusted to exert the same amount of lifting force on both ends of the door. 90% of the time this side to side equalizing of the springs will cure a doors ills. You having a double-size door only magnifies this problem as well. If the door utilizes a torsion spring setup, be very careful in adjusting this type of spring, they can really put the hurt to you if you aren't careful.

I assume the door is causing the wheels to have just a bit more friction in the tracks due to slightly warping in cold weather. I believe all you'll have to do is adjust the opener's torque (or lift power) setting. On the back of your opener there should be some adjustment screws. One of these screws is for lift power...give a 1/4 or 1/2 turn and see if this doesn't make a difference.